John Legend Introduces New Initiative HUMANLEVEL To Help Tackle Systemic Racism in Local Communities

R & B crooner and philanthropist John Legend has just announced his latest initiative that will uplift communities disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism.

The new initiative, HUMANLEVEL works with local government officials and community members to build projects that will address the immediate needs at the city and local level while advocating for more equitable policies at a local, state, and federal level.

“We’ve started an initiative called HUMANLEVEL where local governments have invited us to work on specific projects to make their communities stronger and more equitable. Many of the problems our country faces today are difficult to address at the federal level. Many issues are really at the doorstep of your mayor, your county council, and your community leaders coming together to answer questions about how we can support each other, keep each other safe, and rebuild our country in a way that truly includes everyone.” said John Legend in a written statement.

This initiative includes an executive fellowship program, that will be done in partnership with FUSE Corps, and it will help place executive fellows in 11 different communities: Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Durham, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. These fellows will work with the aforementioned communities to develop strategic impact projects that will be designed to address the immediate needs while working toward sustainable and equitable policies in the areas of jobs, housing, education, health, and the criminal justice system.

“Our goal with this partnership is to take a deeper look at the issues from a human level, with a focus on actions city leaders can take to tackle systemic racism. No single solution will fix the racial and ethnic disparities we see across issues—from housing to education to the workforce—but we must approach this work with a sense of collaboration and urgency,” John Legend said.

Projects that HUMANLEVEL will incorporate with the executive fellows include:

Increasing the number of accessible living-wage jobs
Addressing the shortage of affordable housing and its impact on family security and homelessness
Expanding access to preventive healthcare and mental health resources
Broadening conceptions of public safety to move beyond policing and incarceration